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Just got our first Mac need software

D

dread

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 16, 2009
735
4
Hi everyone,
My wife and I have been using iPhones and iPads since they first came out but we never have had a Mac before. Thanks to this forum I bought a 13 inch MacBook pro for my wife for $999 by getting best buy to match microcenter's pricing. Anyway, what is the must have software for the Mac. We will probably get Microsoft office and my wife is a big photoshop user and needs adobe writer. Are there any cheaper alternatives that you guys can recommend? What other software or apps are must haves? Thanks for the input.
 
There are cheaper alternatives such as pixelmator that are really great alternativs to PS.
 
no you do not need anti-virus for a mac, as many users will tell you :) i have never had a virus in 3 years. if you would feel safer check out 'sophos' anti-virus it's prob the best free one i have tried and is reputable :)

as for a photoshop alternative, GNU 'Gimp" (google it) is a fantastic alternative. it's what i used until i upgraded to PS about 6 months ago.

iWork (Apple's 'office' suite) is fantastic for word processing and even saves as a word document if you need it to be compatible with PCs

also, check out the mac App Store for any interesting add-ons for your new mac, there are loads of good free ones and even better paid ones

congrats on the mac mate
 
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Instead of Microsoft Office you should get iWork ($80 and is much better) and instead of Photoshop get Pixelmator ($60)
Also get:
AppCleaner (free) completely removes applications [should you ever need to]
The Unarchiver or Unrarx (free) for extracting rar files
Carbon Copy Cloner (free) great backup app
VLC Media Player (free) plays almost any format media files

Enjoy your Mac!
 
gorskiegangsta said:
Instead of Microsoft Office you should get iWork ($80 and is much better) and instead of Photoshop get Pixelmator ($60)
Also get:
AppCleaner (free) completely removes applications [should you ever need to]
The Unarchiver or Unrarx (free) for extracting rar files
Carbon Copy Cloner (free) great backup app
VLC Media Player (free) plays almost any format media files

Enjoy your Mac!
Click to expand...

iWork hasn't been updated since 09? I would get office
I would also stay away from App Cleaner. Apps that claim to delete unnecessary or unwanted files, tend to delete too much which causes problems.
 
dread said:
Hi everyone,
My wife and I have been using iPhones and iPads since they first came out but we never have had a Mac before. Thanks to this forum I bought a 13 inch MacBook pro for my wife for $999 by getting best buy to match microcenter's pricing. Anyway, what is the must have software for the Mac. We will probably get Microsoft office and my wife is a big photoshop user and needs adobe writer. Are there any cheaper alternatives that you guys can recommend? What other software or apps are must haves? Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

ABSOLUTE MUST HAVES:
VLC - plays anything you throw at it
Flip4Mav - plays internet plugins
Adobe Reader- Im sure you know what this is
WMV Player - just incase you dont use Flip4Mac
Stuffit Expander - Expands zip files, very useful
Stuffit Deluxe - Compresses them, also expands.. this one costs money (im sure you can find it somewhere where it wont:D)
Office 11 - Basics excel word now includes outlook, id suggest iLife although some just wont let go of windows processing just because they used it for so long
uTorrent - Manages torrents you downloaded, LEGEAL ! =-)
Frostwire - download shared music, legally!!
Facebox - another cool tweak check it out in appstore, only if you use facebook.
Set up time machine - back up files and what not
Aperture 3 - not necisasrly a must have but very handy, and fun to play with!


This should set you up for complete success on your jouney to fully enjoying the beautiful creation of your Mac computer, enjoy!

-iMack.
 
Now, don't let these people lead you to believe you'll NEVER need protection software. Macs are getting more and more popular, which means the risk of somebody writing and sending a piece of malicious code into the wild are more and more likely.

That said, PCTools has a great antivirus for Mac just in case.

And best of all, it's free.

http://www.iantivirus.com/

If you really want to get into the Mac way of doing things, I recommend iWork 09 as its a real pleasure to use, unless of course, you're completely dependent on MSOffice for everything. If you just need to make a spreadsheet here and there and type up some reports, its great.

Beyond that, for web browsing I'd recommend Chrome over Safari. Really anything over Safari. If you need some Windows software, check out Parallels (or Qemu if you're running low on cash). It allows for the nearly transparent running of Windows software on your Mac. Or, you can always go for the full Windows experience as well. It's very good software.
 
Heres a list of some everyday apps I use:

VLC - Media player
PLEX - media player/ media server
GOOGLE CHROME - My fave web browser
SPARROW - Awesome email client
MS OFFICE.
SOUNDCLOUD - great for free music
VUZE - torrents
REEDER - Brilliant rss reader, in beta, you may have seen it on ipad/iphone.
SMC FAN CONTROL - help to control your macs fan speed.
HOTSPOT SHIELD - Proxy
APP ZAPPER - software removal
 
gorskiegangsta said:
AppCleaner (free) completely removes applications [should you ever need to]
Click to expand...

GGJstudios said:
I just tested a few of these, using Skype.app as the file to be deleted.

AppZapper found 4 items
AppCleaner found 6 items
AppDelete found 9 items
EasyFind found 16 items
Finder found 17 items
Click to expand...


Best way to FULLY DELETE a program


PowerGamerX said:
Macs are getting more and more popular, which means the risk of somebody writing and sending a piece of malicious code into the wild are more and more likely.
Click to expand...

The Mac OS X Malware Myth Continues
 
Wow thanks for all the suggestions. I would go with iWork but my wife and I are both heavy office users. I can't wait to start trying these apps.
 
So I take it there is no easy way to remove software on a mac like there is on a PC. I will definately look into those programs.
 
dread said:
So I take it there is no easy way to remove software on a mac like there is on a PC. I will definately look into those programs.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can easily remove most apps on a Mac simply by dragging the app to the trash. However, that leaves behind .plist (user preference) files, caches, logs and some other files related to the app, but not the executable part. Part of the thinking there is, if you decide at a later time to reinstall the app, you won't have to reset all your preferences. In the vast majority of cases, those files only take up some space on your hard drive and won't affect performance. They are far less troublesome than left-over registry entries in Windows, for example. The manual method of app deletion is for fully deleting all files related to the app; not just the app itself.
 
Holy Cow

gorskiegangsta said:
Instead of Microsoft Office you should get iWork ($80 and is much better) and instead of Photoshop get Pixelmator ($60)
Also get:
AppCleaner (free) completely removes applications [should you ever need to]
The Unarchiver or Unrarx (free) for extracting rar files
Carbon Copy Cloner (free) great backup app
VLC Media Player (free) plays almost any format media files

Enjoy your Mac!
Click to expand...

I have both iWorks and Pixelmator. I have been a Mac owner since 1985 (yes, 1985). Neither iWorks nor Pixelmator is a suitable replacement for Microsoft Office nor Photoshop in many cases.

The cases where iWorks and Pixelmator are not suitable are:
1. You need 100% compatibility with others who use those programs, and cannot afford to spend time and credibility with them to fix any problems;
2. You need certain capabilities in Office or Photoshop that are not in iWorks or Pixelmator. This doesn't mean iWorks and Pixelmator are bad programs, just that Office and Photshop have a different set of capabilities.
3. You're used to how Office and Photoshop work, and don't want to learn a slightly different way to do things.

As to the other suggestions:
1. I've never bothered with the minor detritus that apps leave after you delete them. What's the harm?
2. I don't know what a rar file is, so apparently I don't need Unarchiver. If you do need it, go ahead and get it.
3. Use Time Machine for backups - buy a 2 TB USB hard drive, plug it in the Mac, and the Mac will ask if you want to use it for Time Machine. Say yes. Anything else is obsessive-compulsive overkill.
 
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dread said:
So I take it there is no easy way to remove software on a mac like there is on a PC. I will definately look into those programs.
Click to expand...

What do you mean "easy"? There are several different ways one must remove apps from Windows. Not all can be removed from the Contol Panel's Add or Remove Programs. Then, you'll probably still have cruft left over in the Registry, although some programs are really nice and have an uninstaller included with the app itself, although sometimes you still have to check Program Files to ensure that everything really was deleted.

The way that GGJstudios showed is a great way to find both the app bundle itself (the app is actually a folder with most of the app's files) and any other files the app placed throughout your system. This is probably exactly what the other app removal apps are doing anyway. Once you get used to this process, you'll find it remarkably easier that the Windows alternative methods for removing apps.
 
HawaiiMacAddict said:
This is probably exactly what the other app removal apps are doing anyway.
Click to expand...
Except they don't. Most of those removal apps will delete the .plist files and a few others, but leave stuff behind. In most cases, the files left behind take up more space than the files they remove. Again, it's not harmful to leave those things behind, unless you're running out of disk space. If you want it all clean, only the manual method gets it all.
 
Don't use iwork if everyone else you know is using Microsoft Office unless you enjoy having all your documents having thousands of formatting errors each time you switch between the two
 
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